Rail-bond.



Patented July 23, Will.

A. MARKLE.

RAIL BOND.

(Application filed Jan. 19, 1901.)

(No Model.)

Alum Mar/d3 [ave/7X07 I To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALVAN MARKLE, OF HAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL-BOND.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 679,002, dated. July 23, 1901. Application filed January 19,1901. Serial No. 43,835. No model.)

Be it known that I, ALVAN MARKLE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hazleton, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Bonds, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of devices for securing reliable electrical connection between the abutting ends of rails for electric railways and other devices where a flexible or yielding electrical connection is desirable.

The general plan of my invention is to provide a sliding contact between two conductors electrically secured to the abutting rails and to provide a good electrical connection between the contact-pieces by means of a suitable plastic material so arranged as to be retained in its proper position with reference to the contact-pieces.

A convenient way of accomplishing the result consists in securing two fairly-heavy conductors to the respective rails and carrying their free ends into close proximity within an inclosing box adapted to contain a quantity of plastic material.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the railbond applied to the rails. Fig. 2 is a crosssection thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan, partly in section. Figs. 4. and 5 illustrate details. Fig. 6 shows a modification of the method of attachment to the rail. Fig. 7 illustrates a modified form of inclosing box, and Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a modified construction.

Referring to the figures, 1 and 2 represent two abutting rails of an electric railway, and 3 and 4 represent two electric conductors, respectively secured to the flanges 5 and 6 of the two rails l and 2.

In the drawings, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the conductors are shown as extending through openings 7 and 8 in the upper portion of a box 9, they being so shaped as to turn downward toward the bottom of the box. The ends of the conductors are shown as being placed side by side within the bottom of the box, and the intervening spaces around them are filled with a plastic conducting material-such, for instance, as a mercury amalgam or other suitable materialas represented at 10. The conductors fitclosely within the openings in the box, and the box is closed by a lid 11, fastened by a screw 12, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, or it may be held down by means of a wire fastening 13, as shown in Fig. 7, or any other suitable clamping device.

A convenient way to fasten the ends of the conductors to the respective rail-flanges consists in forming each conductor with a circular lug 14, extending through an opening 15 in the flange, this opening being somewhat wider at the top than at the bottom. The lug is provided with a central opening 16, into which may be driven a conical plug 17, adapted to force the edges of the lug outward, filling the enlarged upper portion of the opening in the rail-flange, thus securing a firm joint and a good electrical connection.

In some instances it may be desirable to provide the" flange with an enlarged opening at the bottom side, as shown in Fig. 6, so that the conductor may enter some. distance into the rail, while a smaller lug 18 extends through a corresponding opening in the upper portion of the flange, this upper lug be= ing wedged apart in the manner described with reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3. It may also be similarly expanded on the under side by means of a plug entering the opening 16.

In the construction of the device the box is made of sufficient dimensions to allow the necessary longitudinal movement of the conductors within the box with reference to each other to provide for the expansion and contraction of the rails. box in the manner described the plastic material will be held therein, and at the same time the entrance of dirt and foreign materials into the box is prevented.

In Figs. 8 and 9 a modification is illus trated in which a socket or opening 20 is formed in the end portion of one of the conductors, and the corresponding end of the other conductor enters this opening. A sliding cover 21 closes the opening in the conductor. This cover may be a flanged portion ofthe entering conductor. The spaces not occupied by the entering conductor are filled by plastic material.

It will be readily understood that various By tightly closing then changes in the general contour and shape of the conductors may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim as my invention 1. A rail-bond consisting of two conductors adapted to be fastened to abutting rails with their ends broughtinto parallel relation, plastic material electrically connecting said ends and an inclosing box containing the ends, substantially as described.

2. A rail-bond consisting of two metallic conductors having their ends brought into close proximity to each other, a box inclosing said ends, and a plastic material contained within the box for forming an electrical connection between the same.

3. A rail-bond consisting of two electric conductors, means for fastening one end of each conductor to a corresponding rail, a box for'containing the respective remaining ends of the conductors having openings in its up- 'per portion through which they extend, plastic material therein, a lid for the said box, and means for securing the lid to the box, substantially as described.

t. The combination with abutting rails of an electric railway, of a rail-bond consisting of two conductors having extensions passing upward through the flanges of the respective rails, and a box containing the remaining ends of the conductors in which they are relatively movable, and a means for securing electrical connection between the ends of the conductors so contained, substantially as described.

5. A conductor constituting a portion of a rail-bond, consisting of a metallic strip having an annular lug or extension at one end for entering the rail, and a rectangular down- Wardly-extending portion for securing elec trical contact with another similar conductor, substantially as described.

6. A rail-bond consisting of two counterpart conductors having a horizontal portion adapted to permit of horizontal motion, a downwardly extending portion below the horizontal portion, and conducting material for electrically connecting said conductors.

7. A rail-bond consisting of two conductors adapted to be fastened at one end to the rails and to have their remaining ends brought into close mechanical relation, and a plastic material forming an electric connection between the latter ends.

Signedat New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 18th day of January, A. D. 1901.

ALVAN M ARKLE.

Witnesses:

WM. H. OAPEL, GEORGE H. S'rooxinnIDoE. 

